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Monday, 17 December 2007

Made some sausages this morning, completely without the use of electricity - took little time, and very satisfying in a lot of ways. Good hefty old mincer, then a hand sausage machine. Tehse are pure Berkshire pork, from the pig we licked up last weekend from a friend, probably for tea tonight. Looking forward to these..............

"Life machines" - what on earth is all that about, then? I have seen this written on several forums, where (usually) women write about their "life machines" having been switched on; by this they seem to mean their bread machines, dishwashers, washing machines, etc. I use a washing machine, but that is about the only electric thing I have in this vein. I know it's each to their own, but I find it very sad that people can't find time to make bread by hand, wash dishes (using nice things to do the job - handknitted cloths, good washing up liquid and nice brushes, pretty tea-towels). OK, so maybe a lot of people think they don't have time to do these things, but I really wish they would have a go , at least sometimes. The satisfaction got from breadmaking, contemplative dish washing etc is good for my soul, and a big part of my interest in the slow living movement. Maybe it's just different priorities I have?

Welcome to my blog

Open on my lap

This is an uncopyrighted blog!

I'm happy to share freely whatever is posted up here on Unbought Delicacies - feel free to copy and share recipes, patterns, my pictures, tips, etc - I really don't mind, and like to think that my advice and experiences learned over the years is being shared with a wider audience. If there's anything I don't want copied or shared, it won't appear here.

This is me............

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,The shelter of a roof above my head,And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.I have found such joy in things that fillMy quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,A potted plant upon my window sill,A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,And books I long have loved beside me there.Oh, I have found such joys I wish I mightTell every woman who goes seeking farFor some elusive, feverish delight,That very close to home the great joys are:The elemental things- old as the race,Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Currently on the needles

Autumn leaves scarf

Crochet blanket/s

Shetland Fairisle kits

Dishcloths

Wartime Farm Fairisle top

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.